Our Favorite Albums of 2025 So Far! (Part One of Two)
R&R's Top Music Picks for 2025!
July is here, and our annual tradition for music lovers returns! We’re now over halfway through 2025, which means it’s time once again to take stock of our favorite new albums from the first six months of the year. We listen to a lot of new music every week (far more than we can cover on the podcast), and below is Part One of our favorite new album picks from the year thus far (including two long-awaited reissues and a previously unreleased gem from 1967).
Enjoy the new music! Check back next week for Part Two! And don’t forget to tell us in the comments what you’ve been listening to this year!
Our Favorite New Albums of 2025 So Far! (Part One of Two)
(in alphabetical order by first name of artist/band)
Abel Selaocoe: Hymns of Bantu
“Across 12 tracks written for ensembles varying from African percussion to orchestra, solo cello and electric bass, Abel interprets traditional Bantu music alongside compositions by Bach and Marais”. [Source]
Genre: Classical Cello, Traditional Bantu, Chamber Music
Favorite Track: “Emmanuele”
Ablaye Cissoko & Cyrille Brotto: Djiyo
“Kora maestro meets French accordion star. A spiritual and intimate journey, a music to clear the mind and inspire the senses...” [Source]
Genre: Global Fusion, Spiritual Jazz, Traditional Senegalese, Occitan Folk
Favorite Track: “Amanké Dionti”
Adrian Quesada: Boleros Psicodélicos II
“Adrian Quesada (of Black Pumas) returns with … special guests Cuco, Hermanos Gutiérrez, Ed Maverick, iLe, Angelica Garcia & more. The project is inspired by the late 60s/70s when Latin American balladry was highly influenced by psychedelia.” [Source]
Genre: Latin Rock, Alternative/Indie, Retro-Soul, Funk, Neo-Psychedelia
Favorite Track: “No Temeré” (with Daymé Arocena)
Alice Sara Ott: John Field: Complete Nocturnes
“German-Japanese pianist Alice Sara Ott releases her new album, on which she immerses herself in the rarely performed world of John Field.” [Source]
Genre: Classical Piano
Favorite Track: “Nocturne No. 9 in E Minor, H. 46”
Amanda Acevedo & Mick Harvey: Golden Mirrors - The Uncovered Sessions Vol. 1
“This volume pays tribute to the haunting and overlooked genius of Jackson C. Frank, the enigmatic American folk artist whose lone 1965 album—produced by Paul Simon—became a quiet touchstone for artists such as Nick Drake, Sandy Denny, and Mark Lanegan.” [Source]
Genre: Alternative Rock, Dark Indie Folk, Modern Classical
Favorite Track: “Cover Me with Roses”
Amina Claudine Myers: Solace of the Mind
“[A] profoundly lyrical solo album from pianist, organist, vocalist, and newly minted NEA Jazz Master Amina Claudine Myers.” [Source]
Genre: Avant-Garde Jazz, Piano Blues, Modal Jazz, Post-Bop
Favorite Track: “African Blues”
Annahstasia: Tether
“[A] collection of beaming torch songs, orchestral hymns, and astral anthems that feel lived-in, drawn from the human experience and the spectrum of love.” [Source]
Genre: Neo-Soul, Chamber Folk, Singer-Songwriter
Favorite Track: “Be Kind”
Anouar Brahem: After the Last Sky
“[A] poignant project, titled after a line of verse by poet Mahmoud Darwish, which asks ‘Where should the birds fly, after the last sky?’ Graceful chamber pieces for oud, cello, piano and bass subtly address the metaphysical question and its broad resonances in a troubled time.” [Source]
Genre: Global Fusion, Middle Eastern Jazz, Classical Chamber Music
Favorite Track: “The Eternal Olive Tree”
Anoushka Shankar: Chapter III: We Return to Light (EP)
“‘Three chapters. Three geographies. Three different producers.’ Sitting in a Goan cafe on New Year’s Day 2023, Anoushka Shankar scribbled out the key tenets of her latest project—a trilogy of ‘mini-albums,’ each anchored in one of the places the sitarist and composer has called home.” [Source]
Genre: Indian Classical Sitar, Goa Trance
Favorite Track: “Daybreak”
Ashley Jackson: Take Me To The Water
“Harpist Ashley Jackson fuses music and storytelling in Take Me To The Water, a soulful exploration of spirituals, iconic works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Alice Coltrane, and an exhilarating interpretation of Debussy’s ‘Danse Sacrée.’” [Source]
Genre: Classical Harp
Favorite Track: “Troubled Water” (Margaret Bonds)
Brandee Younger: Gadabout Season
“Gadabout Season is Brandee Younger’s most personal and exploratory album to date … Recorded on Alice Coltrane’s harp, Gadabout Season features collaborations from Shabaka, Courtney Bryan, NIIA, and Josh Johnson.” [Source]
Genre: Spiritual Jazz, Classical Harp, Jazz-Soul Fusion
Favorite Track: “Reflection Eternal”
Cindytalk: Camouflage Heart (2025 Reissue)
“Cindytalk is the mercurial, expressionist outlet of Scottish artist Cinder. … Her work thrives on chance and transformation, collaging elements of noise, balladry, soundtrack, catharsis, and improvisation. … Camouflage Heart, [is] a fearless work that feels even more singular and prescient now forty-plus years beyond its release.” [Source]
Genre: Post-Punk, Dark Ambient, Goth, Industrial
Favorite Track: “It’s Luxury”
Coil: Black Antlers (2025 Reissue)
“The sound of Black Antlers is of an intoxicating energy, combining Thighpaulsandra’s advanced synthesis, [Jhonn] Balance’s poetic lyricism and [Peter] Christopherson’s flirtations with jazz and Ableton-aided PowerBook maximalism.” [Source]
Genre: Experimental, Dark Ambient, Avant-Garde, Industrial
Favorite Track: “Sex with Sun Ra (Part One - Saturnalia)”
Constantinople (Kiya Tabassian, Benedicte Maurseth & Patrick Graham): Nordic Lights in Persian Sky
“[Benedicte] Maurseth, perform[s] on the Hardanger violin, whose rich, mesmerizing sound complements the crystalline, penetrating sound of the setar played by Kiya Tabassian. They both share vocal duties … ultimately united by the almost infinite sound palette of percussionist Patrick Graham.” [Source]
Genre: Global Fusion, Classical Persian, Scandinavian Folk
Favorite Track: “Dance of the Wind”
Cymande: Renascence
“Renascence picks up where their 1974 album Promised Heights left off – a spiritual and sonic follow-up, bringing a fresh modern edge to their iconic sound, which remains foundational to early hip-hop and funk scenes in the United States and UK.” [Source]
Genre: Funk, Soul, R&B, Jazz-Funk
Favorite Track: “Coltrane”
Ebo Taylor, Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad: Ebo Taylor JID022 [Jazz is Dead #22]
“At 88 years of age, the Ghanian highlife and afrobeat pioneer Ebo Taylor traveled to the US for the very first time to perform at the now iconic Jazz Is Dead concert series … It was during this time that Ebo recorded a psychedelic afrobeat album alongside producers Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad.” [Source]
Genre: Highlife, Afrobeat, Jazz-Funk, Psychedelic Soul
Favorite Track: “Feeling”
Ella Fitzgerald: The Moment Of Truth: Ella at the Coliseum (previously unreleased!)
“[A] new and never-before-released live concert album from the First Lady Of Song … recorded at the Oakland Coliseum on June 30, 1967, … [t]he album spans nine tracks, most never heard before, and features Fitzgerald accompanied by members of The Duke Ellington Orchestra at its prime.” [Source]
Genre: Classic Jazz, Swing, Bop, Big Band
Favorite Track: “Let’s Do It (Let’s Fall In Love)”
Enji: Sonor
“Enji takes a significant step in her musical evolution with this album, merging traditional Mongolian folk music with jazz innovation to express themes of identity, displacement, and personal development.” [Source]
Genre: Contemporary Jazz, Mongolian Folk, Singer-Songwriter
Favorite Track: “Ulbar”
Galactic & Irma Thomas: Audience With the Queen
“Known as the ‘Soul Queen of New Orleans,’ Irma Thomas is a pillar of American R&B and blues history, known for her soulful voice and distinctive southern twang. … Galactic and Irma Thomas have come together to create … an uplifting joint effort that shines new light on the incomparable singer’s timeless, soulful sound.” [Source]
Genre: Soul, Blues, New Orleans R&B, Jazz-Funk
Favorite Track: “Lady Liberty”
Gao Hong & Zhao Xiaoxia: Prelude to the Divine Realm: Pipa and Guqin
“Pipa master Gao Hong and guqin virtuoso Zhao Xiaoxia revisit some of China’s most traditional pieces … Here, they masterfully combine the rich history of traditional culture with the avant-garde energy of contemporary art to create a work that is both a philosophical meditation and a spiritual journey.” [Source]
Genre: Chinese Classical
Favorite Track: “Drunken Immortals”
Garbage: Let All That We Imagine Be The Light
“Big angular guitars, precise propulsive beats and cinematic soundscapes all lurk beneath Shirley Manson’s expressive voice, her lyrics bristling with attitude. It is the sound of a group at the peak of their creative powers, characteristically harnessing sonic juxtapositions and moods to create an album that thrums equally with both light and shade.” [Source]
Genre: Alternative/Indie Rock
Favorite Track: “Sisyphus”
George Brown: Jazz in Paris
“George Brown, beloved co-founder of Kool & The Gang releases his second posthumous project, Jazz in Paris … Inspired by the smoky jazz clubs of Paris and New York in the late 1950s and ‘60s—a sound that shaped Brown’s musical world from an early age—the album reflects his passion for jazz while showcasing his extraordinary range as an artist.” [Source]
Genre: Classic Jazz, Neo-Bop
Favorite Track: “MDD”
Grecia Albán: Nubes Selva
“Grecia Albán is a singer and composer from Cotopaxi, Ecuador whose unique musical universe encompasses the sounds of the forest, Ecuadorian roots music, and inspiration from a long line of strong female singers from across Latin America.” [Source]
Genre: Latin American Folk, Electronic
Favorite Track: “Virgen Y Volcán”
Jacob Alon: In Limerence
“Jacob Alon is a Scottish singer-songwriter with a profound gift for storytelling. Both intimate and devastatingly introspective, their music is touched by a rare timelessness. … Alon’s sound cuts through the air with powerful and haunting vocals, intricate guitar playing, and pensive, poetic lyrics.” [Source]
Genre: Contemporary Folk, Singer-Songwriter
Favorite Track: “Fairy in a Bottle”
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason: Fantasie
“[O]n her debut solo album Fantasie, she takes listeners on a journey that explores connections across different composers’ sound worlds … [f]rom Claude Debussy, Frédéric Chopin and Alexander Scriabin to Florence Price, Margaret Bonds and William Grant Still”. [Source]
Genre: Classical Piano
Favorite Track: “Three Visions: II. Summerland” (William Grant Still)
Jordi Savall & Le Concert des Nations: Forgotten Symphonies [Symphonies Oubliées: Schumann - Symphonie g-Moll “Zwickauer”; Bruckner - Symphonie d-Moll “Nullte”]
“Following the success of his Beethoven and Schubert recordings, Jordi Savall now presents his first album devoted to the music of Robert Schumann and Anton Bruckner. Adopting historically informed performance practices, Le Concert des Nations casts light on a repertoire that has been unfairly forgotten.” [Source]
Genre: Classical Symphony
Favorite Track: “Symphony in G Minor, WoO 29 ‘Zwickauer’: I. Adagio - Allegro molto - Un poco Andante - Più mosso” (Robert Schumann)
Kadialy Kouyate: Toña
“Kadialy Kouyate’s mesmerising kora skills are deeply rooted in his ancestral lineage. Born in southern Senegal within the rich cultural tapestry of the Mandinka people, Kadialy was raised in a family of Kouyate griots and immersed in the general practices of griot tradition from an early age. … With Toña, Kadialy Kouyate once again brings these revered traditions to the world music scene in his own inimitable style.” [Source]
Genre: Kora, Classical Mandinka, West African Griot, Singer-Songwriter
Favorite Track: “Kana Cumbo”
Lamomali (-M-, Fatoumata Diawara, Toumani Diabaté, Balla Diabaté): Lamomali Totem
“The album is a love song to Africa and a vibrant tribute to Mali — its culture, its spirituality, its struggles, and its hopes. … It intertwines the ancestral kora with modern beats, legendary voices with tomorrow’s promises. It’s an album for those who love Mali. For those who believe that music can heal, unite, and mend.” [Source]
Genre: Afro-Pop, Worldbeat
Favorite Track: “Je Suis Mali”
The Legendary Pink Dots: So Lonely In Heaven
“Visions of doom have always troubled humanity: whether through repeated millennial fears, comets, meteors, plagues, religious fervours, triffids, H-bombs, AI and climate collapse. But have they ever been wrapped in such a beguiling package?” — Richard Foster [Source: The Quietus]
Genre: Neo-Psychedelia, Dark Ambient, Post-Punk, Goth, Progressive Jazz
Favorite Track: “So Lonely in Heaven”
Mandeng Groove: Conakry
“Co-created by Guinean-Australian multi-instrumentalist Amadou Kalissa and Melbourne guitarist and producer Kyle Muir, Mandeng Groove’s music is a vibrant bridge between continents … This dynamic blend of traditional sounds with jazz, soul, funk, and all things groove, is a testament to the band’s concurrently deep, immersive, energetic, and fun approach to music.” [Source]
Genre: West African Kora, Global Jazz, Funk, Soul
Favorite Track: “Mamadou”
Manika Kaur: Devocean
“Manika Kaur’s journey as a Sikh devotional singer is intricately woven with her cultural roots and a profound familial connection to Sikh traditions. ... [Devocean] takes her artistic exploration a step further as she delves into mantras from various faiths, embracing a universal approach to spirituality through music.” [Source]
Genre: Kirtan, Sacred Music, Global Trance, New Age
Favorite Track: “Wakan Tanka”
Marshall Allen: New Dawn
“Two days after his 100th birthday, Marshall Allen started recording New Dawn, his debut solo album. … New Dawn seems to herald a new beginning. A love letter to spacetime, it channels a century of musical intelligence into seven tracks, showing Allen at his most protean — freely moving from relaxed, transdimensional palettes to bluesy big band and beyond.” [Source]
Genre: Avant-Garde Jazz, Experimental Jazz, Afrofuturism
Favorite Track: “New Dawn” (feat. Neneh Cherry)
That’s the end of Part One! An abundance of beautiful new music for your listening pleasure!
For each album above, we’ve tried to link to multiple platforms to purchase or stream the music. We’ve done our best to follow the lead of the artists themselves, using the links they’ve provided through their official websites, record labels or social media. But regardless of how you to choose to listen, please PLEASE support your favorite musicians if you can afford it. Purchase their albums/merch directly via Bandcamp or their official sites, and pay to see them live in concert so they can afford to keep making the music we all love!
Check back next week for Part Two. And please tell us in the comments what new music you’ve been enjoying this year. We’re always searching for new music from all genres to add to our listening queue!